


A Bedtime Story

by often_adamanta



Category: Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Storytelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-10-31
Updated: 2005-10-31
Packaged: 2017-10-22 08:26:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/236090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/often_adamanta/pseuds/often_adamanta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Originally posted at livejournal <a href="http://often-adamanta.livejournal.com/113908.html">here</a>.</p></blockquote>





	A Bedtime Story

“Tell me a story, Noni.”

“A story? It’s already past your bedtime, lil’ missy, don’t you think I hadn’t noticed.”

The little girl squirmed, but wasn’t ready to give up. “Tell me a bedtime story, then? To put me to sleep.”

“Baby, I been alive a long, long time, and ain’t none of my stories the kind that puts ya to sleep. What kinda story is that? Boring. Take some advice, sugar. Never tell boring stories. Ain’t no good in that.”

“But, but Momma always tells me bedtime stories. Please, Noni. Please?”

Noni let out a long-suffering sigh. “Alright baby, but you gotta get yourself inta bed first.”

She squealed happily and clapped her hands before taking off down the hall. Noni followed at a more sedate pace, but surprisingly agile for such old bones. She settled into the rocking chair in the small room, and looked at the expectant face peering out over the covers, teddy bear held tight.

“Now then. What kinda story you wantin’?”

“A story about a Prince.”

“A prince, huh?”

“Yeah. A Prince, and a Princess, and monsters and horses and castles and love and magic.”

“Love and magic and princes, huh? I reckon we can manage that. You all settled in there, honey?”

“Yes.”

“Don’ need anything else?”

“No, Noni! Just tell the story!” Noni raised her eyebrows at the demanding tone, and the little girl smiled and added quickly, “Please.”

“Alright then, honey. Off we go. Now, there was once a boy—”

“Is he the Prince?”

“Iffin you like, baby. This boy, he was much older then you. So old, he din even live with his momma and daddy no more.” The little girl looked suitably impressed. “One night, and it was an ordinary night, mind you, none of that spooky and stormy stuff. Justa normal night, with our boy sleeping in his own bed, quiet and peaceful-like, when he woke up.”

“Did something wake him, Noni?”

“Somethin’ sure did, lil’ missy, but you ain’t never gonna get to hear what if you don’t stop intruptin’ me.”

“Sorry.”

“So, as I was sayin’, our boy woke up, an’ he woke up ‘cause he lost his soul.”

“His soul?”

“His very soul, God bless em.”

“But, Noni, you can’t lose your soul.”

“Now, don’ you argue with me, girlie. You surely can. I don’ know why people think that jus’ cuz you’re livin’, you gotta have a soul. Soul’s somethin’ that needs taken care of. Most people leave pieces lyin’ around as they go and don’ even notice till it’s too late. Others tie their soul up so tight that it ain’t never seen the light of day, till it drips away like my coffee in that cup your Momma cracked and put back in my cubboard.”

The little girl giggled. “Momma doesn’t think you know about that.”

“I surely do, baby. Sometime, your Momma ain’t thinking the way she should.”

“I bet Mr. Bradford doesn’t have a soul.”

Noni let out a shudder. “Whoee, girl, you’re right about that. Iffin that man ever had a soul, it took one look a’ him, and ran screamin’. But we was talkin’ bout Elijah, lil’ miss.”

“Is Elijah the Prince?”

“Sure nuff, honey, now hush up.

“It don’ happen too often that souls get lost sudden-like, but that’s what happened ta Elijah. One second he’s dreamin’, the next he’s wide away and hurtin’, cuz baby, it hurts to lose your soul.

“Our Elijah wasn’ too sure bout what’d happened. He was like you, baby. No one ever told em he could lose his soul. He tried to ignore it, almost a week he tried, which tells ya how strong a boy he was. You try walkin’ around more’n half empty an’ see how it feels. Finally, Elijah knew he’d have to do somethin’ bout it.”

“What? What did he do?”

“He set out ta find it, of course. Whatta you do when you lose somethin’, baby? It was really hard for Elijah cuz he didn’t know what his soul looked like, or where it might be.

“But he had ta look anyway, an’ so he did. Looked everywhere an’ tried darn near everythin’ to find it, but it was long gone. Why, he’d jus’ bout given up when he saw somethin’ intrestin’.”

“His soul!”

“No, sweet girl, it wasn’t neither, but it was captivatin’ enough to catch our Elijah’s attention, an’ that’s sayin’ somethin’, cuz he was mighty intent on findin’ his soul again.”

“What was it, Noni?” she asked excitedly, sitting up in bed with wide eyes.

“It was a man, honey.”

“A man? THAT’S not interesting.”

Noni chuckled. “Now, you might be changin’ your mind bout that later on, but I tell you what, Elijah’d probably woulda agreed with ya. What made this man intrestin’ was tha’ he looked bout as lost as Elijah felt.”

“Did that man lose his soul too?”

“I’m getting’ there, child, goodness. Lemme tell you the story.

“Elijah walked straight up to that man an’ asked em what was the matter was. The man’s eyes grew real big, like Elijah’d scared em, which confused Elijah somthin’ big cuz he’d only been bein’ polite. It took a few minutes for the truth ta come out. See, the man wasn’t really a man, sugar. He was a soul himself, and he’d lost himself just the way Elijah’s soul had. The reason he’d gotten himself in such a tizzie was there wasn’ no one he’d met so far that could see em. Elijah’d shocked em good.

“They talked together for some time, an’ finally decided to keep each other company, because even though the man wasn’ Elijah soul, it was some scary bein’ on your own, and they figured they had a higher chance of findin’ what they’d lost together.”

“Noni,” the little girl interrupted again. “No one else could see the man? Really?”

“Really, child. How many souls you seen walkin’ the streets? Takes somethin’ powerful ta see a soul. Got em in heaps o’trouble at times, too.”

“Trouble? Why, Noni?”

“Cuz it looked to most folks that Elijah was talkin’ to air. They couldn’t see Orli.”

“Orli?”

“That’s the soul’s name, child. Or what he called ‘imself, anyway, which might not be the same thing. Ya never know.”

“But what about the trouble?”

Noni gave her a piercing look. “Yessir, you would be intrested in that, wouldn’t ya. Most of it’s worth a good laugh. Like one time, Elijah and Orli went to visit Elijah’s momma and sister, thinkin’ his soul mighta gone home. An’ Elijah and Orli got inta a huge fight, and his sister walks in on em, yelling at nothing. She thought Elijah’d gone round the bend, she did, crazy-like.”

“What else happened?”

“Well, Elijah an’ Orli, they traveled all round the place lookin’ for what they was missin’. Got ta know each other real well. Orli was there when Elijah woke in the night feel tha’ terrible emptiness inside ‘imself, and even though Orli wasn’ his soul, at least he wasn’ alone, neither.”

“But, Noni, didn’t Elijah ever find his soul? Didn’t Orli find his person?”

“They did, honey, but it’s important you know this, it took em a long time. Somethin’ worth findin’, well, it don’ jus’ jump out at ya. You gotta work for it.”

The little girl nodded seriously, although she wasn’t quite sure what her Noni was talking about.

“Our Elijah, well, he’d stopped lookin’ entirely by the time he found his soul again. He was sittin’ on a park bench, wonderin’, like he’d been doin’ a lot lately, what he was gonna do next, when a man strolled down the path who looked mighty familiar.”

“Was it Orli?”

“Nah, child. Orli was sittin’ next to em on the bench, and they were causin’ a right stir, too, talkin’ to each other when no one could see Orli. By that time, though, they’d made a game of it, and Elijah was laughin’ hard enough to be heard all around.

“That’s why the other man came that way, sweet girl. He recognized that laugh.”

“How?”

“Well, he had Elijah’s soul, of course. And Elijah had his. Orlando, the young man turned out to be called.”

“What happened then?”

“They’d found what they were lookin’ for, honey. They had a happy ending. So. How was that for a story?”

“It was alright.”

“Jus’ alright, child? What’s wrong, then?”

She frowned, not wanting to hurt Noni’s feelings. “There was no magic.”

“No magic! Girl, you outta your mind thinkin’ there’s no magic in tha’ story. Most magical thing I ever seen, them souls coming together with their people.”

The little girl gaped at her. “You _saw_ it!?”

“I sure did, lil’ miss. I was sittin’ on that park bench, thinkin’ I found myself a crazy the way that boy next ta me was carryin’ on, when Mr. Orlando walked round the corner.”

“What did you see?”

“Nuthin’ at firs’. But then I blinked, an’ I swore there was four of em standin’ there, not two. Though I was gonna hafta get my eyes checked. Then Orli walked inta Orlando, and Elijah’s soul walked inta him, right inta him! An’ then there really was jus’ the two of em standin’ there, looking truly happy for probably the firs’ time in a long time. It’s hard to be happy without your soul, child.”

“What happened then?”

“Well, they didn’ know what they’s gonna do with themselves, been lookin’ for their other half for so long. And they couldn’t stand to leave t’other, cuz they was so used to having the others soul around. Felt like they knew each other already.

“First time I saw true love, child. Nuthin’ more magical than that.”

“Noni, they couldn’t be in love! Boys don’t fall in love!”

“Now who told you somethin’ like that, lil’ miss?”

“My momma.”

“Huh. You’re momma might be bright as they come, but trust me, honey, she ain’t got it all figured out. Specially not bout love.”

“But it was a happy ending, right, Noni?” The little girl’s eyes drooped shut every few seconds, only to pop back open as she struggled to stay awake.

“Happy as it gets, love.” Noni got up and kissed her granddaughters forehead. “Go to sleep, now, child. Sweet dreams.”

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted at livejournal [here](http://often-adamanta.livejournal.com/113908.html).


End file.
